# Margaret Hugonin — The Cords of Vanity character guide > Margaret Hugonin in The Cords of Vanity by James Branch Cabell. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Margaret, Hugonin, Margaret Elizabeth Anstruther Hugonin **First appearance:** 0010-i-he-sits-out-a-dance ## Snapshot Margaret Elizabeth Anstruther Hugonin survives in the narrator's memory as a childhood sweetheart, one of the early attachments that taught him how easily affection can be left behind. ## Who they are Margaret Hugonin is a figure from the narrator's past, a childhood sweetheart whose memory belongs to the long backward glance that frames the novel. She is less a presence in the present action than a measure of it: the kind of early, uncomplicated devotion that Robert Townsend's temperament has since learned to shirk whenever it threatens discomfort. Her name carries the weight of what he has outgrown and abandoned, and it helps establish the pattern of romantic evasion that the book goes on to dissect. ## Relationships ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _romantic_ Margaret is a young woman with whom the narrator shares a flirtatious and possibly romantic dynamic. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _romantic_ Margaret is a young woman with whom the narrator shares a flirtatious and possibly romantic dynamic. ### [Unknown Narrator](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/unknown_narrator) _romantic_ Margaret is a young woman with whom the narrator shares a flirtatious and possibly romantic dynamic. ## In the story ### [He Reviles Destiny and Climbs a Wall](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxiii-he-reviles-destiny-and-climbs-a-wall) The heiress of Selwoode, described as clever and beautiful, is the object of the narrator's scheming; he later encounters a young woman he believes to be her. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Mentioned in the social items as having reopened Selwoode for the summer. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) The wealthy heiress living at Selwoode, whom the narrator targets as a potential wife. ### [XXIV: He Reconciles Sentiment and Reason](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxiv-he-reconciles-sentiment-and-reason) The woman Townsend meets, initially believed to be Avis Beechinor, but later identified by her monogrammed handkerchief. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Mentioned as the owner of the estate and the one who refuses visitors, though she does not appear in the chapter. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Revealed to be the true identity of 'Avis Beechinor' via the handkerchief initials. ### [XXV: He Advances in the Attack on Selwoode](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxv-he-advances-in-the-attack-on-selwoode) The heiress Townsend is courting; she plays coy and witty, eventually agreeing to consider marriage in November. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Margaret is the subject of the narrator's thoughts; he wonders if the handkerchief is hers and reflects on her name. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iv) Prefers the narrator on the wall, teases him about being 'ruins' and 'marmalade,' and playfully asks to be adopted. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/vii) The object of the narrator's love, whose identity as an heiress he knows but chooses not to reveal. ### [He Assists in the Diversion of Birds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/xxvi-he-assists-in-the-diversion-of-birds) Mentioned as the heiress Avis is mistaken for; she gave Avis the handkerchiefs with her monogram. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned as the heiress whom the narrator does not wish to marry. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/i) Margaret accosts the narrator after his interview with Mrs. Beechinor, encourages him, and shares her own romantic history. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/ii) Margaret, now Mrs. William Woods, speaks impatiently to her husband and prepares to confide in the narrator about Avis. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/chapters/iii) Mentioned as keeping everyone in a 'perpetual swivet.' ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters/margaret_hugonin - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_cords_of_vanity_se/characters